Russian Military Confirms Plans for New Light Transport Plane

[FOX80]

MOSCOW, December 20 (RIA Novosti) – The Russian Defense Ministry and the United Aircraft Corporation will sign a contract on the development of the Il-112V light transport plane next year, a deputy defense minister said Friday.

The development of the twin turboprop aircraft, designed to carry six tons of cargo to a range of 1,000 kilometers (620 miles), was canceled in 2011 under former Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov, but his successor Sergei Shoigu reportedly approved the revival of the Il-112 program earlier this year.

Deputy Defense Minister Yury Borisov said the Il-112 development contract, worth 7.9 billion rubles ($240 million), had been included in the state defense order for 2014.

“We will sign a contract on series production of the aircraft after this work is completed,” Borisov said.

Borisov did not specify the number of Il-112s slated for delivery to the Russian air force, but said the plans were for at least several dozen aircraft.

“The first deliveries have been scheduled for 2017,” he said.

The Ilyushin aircraft maker earlier announced plans to build 62 Il-112s to replace the aging fleet of An-26 military transport aircraft in service with the Russian air force.

The company said in August that the first prototype would be ready for flight tests in 2015.

The assembly of Il-112s will be carried out at the Voronezh aircraft plant in central Russia.